The Practicing Poet: Writing Beyond the Basics
Organized into ten sections with each devoted to a poetic concept, The Practicing Poet begins with “Discovering New Material,” “Finding the Best Words,” “Making Music,” “Working with Sentences and Line Breaks,” and “Crafting Surprise.” The concepts become progressively moresophisticated, moving on to “Achieving Tone,” “Dealing with Feelings,” “Transforming Your Poems,” “Rethinking and Revising,” and “Publishing Your Book.”
The book includes thirty brief craft essays, each followed by a model poem and analysis of the poem’s craft, then a prompt based on the poem. Ten recyclable bonus prompts are also included. Contributors include such poets as Patricia Smith, Dorianne Laux, George Bilgere, and David Kirby.
The Practicing Poetpushes poets beyond the basics and encourages the continued reading, learning, and writing of poetry. It is suitable as a textbook in the classroom, a guidebook in a workshop, or an at-home tutorial for the practicing poet working independently.